


Absence Makes the Fond Heart Wander

by badboy_fangirl



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-16
Updated: 2012-01-16
Packaged: 2017-10-29 15:21:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/321323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badboy_fangirl/pseuds/badboy_fangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Damon gives Elena a birthday gift. (Pre-season three.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Absence Makes the Fond Heart Wander

More days than not, she ends up at the Boarding House, even when Damon does things like walk around naked to freak her out. She tells herself it's so she can feel close to Stefan, so she can retain some connection with him, because just like Damon tells her practically every time she sees him, some day her boyfriend will come home. And when he does, she wants to still be in the loop.

She wants to still _care_.

Because of course she cares. She's also terrified that at any given moment perhaps Stefan will show up and want to kill her (she's had that nightmare a time or two). She's also angry; how could he do this, take off without a word, and evade Damon every time he's gone looking for his brother? On top of that, she's confused. Confused by the emotions that welled up within her when she thought Damon was going to die; emotions that haven't receded since he survived, and seem to only get increasingly stronger every time she sees him.

But honestly, on each visit to the Boarding House, she has the hope that _this_ time when sees him, it will be normal again. (Normal was when she knew he was ridiculously good-looking, but such a jackass, and a brother-killer, and an agitator that his attractiveness got diluted by all that. Saying aloud that she forgave him seemed to have really worked, in every regard.)

Today, she's going there because he called and (nicely) asked her if she'd come by before the group of them went to the one up-scale restaurant in Mystic Falls (a French restaurant called _Folie Douce_ ). It's funny how hard all of them are trying to have normal interactions, but the truth is they never used to do stuff like this at all. Now that Jenna's dead, and Stefan's gone, and Matt won't have anything to do with any of them, the rest of them get together and be social on a regular basis.

Act like friends, comrades, people who just enjoy each other's company. (Not people who have battled all-powerful vampires and lost, and who will undoubtedly have to do it again at some point.)

Tonight they're going out because it's Elena's 18th birthday, and Damon's phone call "requesting a private audience with Miss Gilbert" is what led her to tell Alaric and Jeremy that she would meet them, Bonnie, Caroline, and Tyler at the restaurant because Damon had called for a ride. ("You know him, he's probably planning on drinking too much," she said when Alaric's eyebrows went up questioningly.)

She calls out as she enters the front door, "You're not naked, I hope, since you knew I was coming!"

She says it with a smile, trying to make it light-hearted, trying to make all of this something they can both handle. He appears suddenly in front of her, fully clothed—in tailored pants and a blue button down that flatter him far too favorably—smirking slightly. "Happy birthday," he says, his beautiful eyes popping and full of seriousness he'll never let escape his lips.

"You summoned me?" she says, clearing her throat of sudden frogginess, her lips quivering into a smile.

"And you came running. Isn't that interesting?" He does the eye-thing that has become somewhat rarer in recent months.

"I do believe I was promised some top secret _gift_ ," she reminds him, making air quotes with her fingers. "If you know anything about women, you know they cannot resist the lure of a present."

He smirks again, bigger this time. "And I _do_ know a thing or two about women." He pivots on his heel and walks away from her. "Please follow me, kind lady."

Elena likes it best when it's like this between them, when they joke and tease and act like the missing-brother/boyfriend-elephant-in-the-room is not really an issue at all. When they're like this, she can almost believe that being Damon's friend is both the right thing, and the best thing.

(That it's enough.)

She follows him up the stairs and he leads her into Stefan's bedroom, which causes her to hesitate. She doesn't come in here often, and she's about to ask why they are now, but Damon comes to stop in front of the full-length mirror and turns to face her. He pulls a small, flat box from behind his back and holds it out to her. "Here you are."

She opens the box slowly, letting the under-box slip out from the lid and drop into her other hand. A silver chain pools into a floral, tree-like ornament. She can see that small sprigs of vervain have been woven into the metal, and she wonders who made it for him.

(For her.)

She just stares at it, unable to find words that could squeeze out past the lump in her throat. _It's beautiful. Thank you. Why did you give me something so...personal?_

He speaks before she can figure out what she wants to communicate most. "I thought maybe since you find your old necklace to be a painful reminder, that this one might be more pleasant," he says, his voice velvety soft. She glances up at him as he finishes, "And besides, you need to be wearing vervain all the time. Never know when a vampire might pop out of nowhere and try to make you his sex slave."

This smirk comes on strong, but fades faster than the others as their eyes lock and hold, and Elena feels that flutter in her stomach, the one that shoots upwards and makes her heart start to pound. (This is something that happens far too often to be mere coincidence; it's also the reason she should stop coming to the Boarding House.)

(It might be the biggest reason she keeps coming anyway.)

"Thank you," she murmurs, sliding a finger under the clasp and drawing the necklace from the box. Damon gestures towards the mirror as she drops the empty box on the nearby desk and then steps in front of it. Drawing her hair to one side, she unhooks the necklace and puts it around her throat, watching the reflection of Damon as his hands meet hers. She pulls her hands away, but cannot do the same with her eyes. He concentrates on the task, possibly far longer than he really needs to, and his fingers skim lightly against the tender skin at the nape of her neck.

She shivers because she can't help it; she shouldn't have worn a spaghetti strap dress. She shouldn't wear anything around Damon that leaves any skin exposed. Or, you know, where they can make eye contact. "You look inhumanly beautiful tonight," he says, voice low and charged, as their eyes connect again in the mirror. His gaze leaves hers to sweep over her body briefly and then comes back, the force of his eyes almost physical in nature. Though her dress isn't indecent or overly form-fitting, it suddenly feels snugger, as if blood is rushing to various destinations and she's swelling up in some aspect.

She closes her eyes because that train of thought makes her think of _his_ body and blood gathering in certain places, and...

"Thank you, Damon, thanks," she says, moving away from him, away from the mirror. She takes three steps, towards what she doesn't know. She's pretty sure there's a metaphor in there somewhere, but all she's got in her head is _Run, Elena, run!_

(The funny thing is, it sort of sounds like Damon's voice, when she really thinks about it.)

Her fingers touch the trinket at the hollow of her throat. "It's so beautiful. Thank you so much."

He bows his head slightly. "You're welcome," he replies. Then, he seems to snap back from wherever his thoughts had taken him. (She doesn't want to know, really, she _doesn't_.)

Months later, after so many more moments like that one, times when she almost gave in, or thought about making _him_ give in, she stands in front of Stefan, feeling grateful (regretful?) that nothing had ever happened.

(Just because they hadn't acted on those feelings doesn't mean nothing happened, but she's not going to split hairs with herself over it.)

They're standing in the bright sunshine in a place far from Mystic Falls, where Damon has brought her to see his brother. Stefan looks like himself, but different at the same time, and she can tell he wants to hug her, but it's been so long. The shame practically radiates from him. "It's okay," she says encouragingly. She hopes it will help him as he tries to come back from a place she cannot fathom.

His eyes drop to her throat, and he asks, "Where did you get that?" His hand reaches out and his fingers tentatively touch the necklace she hasn't taken off since she received it. But the way he asks is almost as if he recognizes this piece of jewelry.

She reaches up automatically to hold it, a habit she's acquired over months of temptation and confusion and _need_. Damon, at her fingertips, Damon, in her grasp, Damon, Damon, _Damon_. "Damon gave it to me. For my birthday," she adds unnecessarily. He's nowhere to be found now, having disappeared to give them privacy in broad daylight. "Why?" she asks, because she can _see_ there's more even though she doesn't understand.

Stefan shrugs and looks away, perhaps searching for his brother in the nearby forest. "It was my mother's," he says. Then he looks back at her. "It was something that she left specifically to Damon." He tilts his head and says, "It's probably the only sentimental thing he lays claim to."

Elena feels her cheeks flush. Of course, she doesn't know this; Damon didn't tell her anything about the necklace, he just gave it to her. She glances away from Stefan, but shares the truth she knows. "I couldn't wear your necklace anymore, it made me too sad. So Damon gave me something to protect me, that wouldn't remind me of you."

Stefan nods and looks at his feet as he kicks the dirt beneath him. "That was nice of him," he says, but it doesn't sound sincere.

Elena just says, "Be careful, Stefan. You've been gone a long time."

His eyes come back to hers, intense and more Damon-like than she's ever seen them. "Is it too late?" he asks.

Out of nowhere it hits her; all the things she'd never faced that had come to a culmination in Damon's almost-death, and now everything else she'd never dealt with was coming to a head in the wake of Stefan's return.

One way or another, she will have to choose. But not today; not right now. "I don't know," she answers truthfully.

Then Stefan embraces her, and she can't help but think they're even somehow. Maybe in the end, they'll both choose Damon. Wouldn't that be ironic?


End file.
